


Take My Hand

by autumnstories



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2016-09-04
Packaged: 2018-08-11 18:01:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7902364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autumnstories/pseuds/autumnstories
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma attends Abigail and Frederick's engagement ball to find a way to get away from a deal she offered to make with Captain Hook to save her father. At the ball, she meets someone who would not just steal her for one dance, but will steal her heart too, maybe even saving her from Captain Hook and their deal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take My Hand

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever Swan Queen story, and it is set in the EF. And I have to say that English is not my first language so I'm sorry for any mistake... I'll do my best though.  
> I hope you like and enjoy!

Dressed in red satin, Princess Emma walked next to Killian with her arm wrapped around his. She felt uncomfortable in her dress, a dress she had not even picked up. The loose hair around her ears kept tangling with the silver earrings she was wearing, and she could not stop overthinking of a way out. She had to think of a plan to escape from the ball, to buy her some time to find a way to break the deal she had with the pirate who was escorting her. When she made the deal, she wasn’t thinking straight; her father was sick, and she needed what the pirate had provided them for the fairies to create an antidote to the poison that was killing the King. Her father was going to heal, she knew he would, and that was the only thought that kept her act up. Just a dance, just a few minutes, and then she will be safe; anywhere else, but safe.

The pirate kept disrespectfully courting her, his words would only make her awkwardly withdraw from the conversation, and all she wanted was to run, but she had to try for a little bit longer. Her escape had to be almost accidental, or Captain Hook would find a way to make her pay a worse price than the one she is already paying: sailing away with him. Emma continued walking beside Captain Hook, lost in thought, careless of the castle she was entering to. Emma almost missed King Midas standing behind the front gates that lead to the ballroom, welcoming his guests, with a couple of guards at both sides in their yellow tabards, and a belt around it holding their swords.

Emma pulled herself out of her thoughts, and by moving both sides of her lips she faked a smile to direct her look towards the King. King Midas saw Emma approaching and welcomed her and her escort, "Princess Emma, what an honor to have you tonight! I hope your father is recovering" The King exclaimed smiling at Emma, who still seemed oddly distracted, but the King was too tired to recognize it. He bowed down to kiss her hand, "who is the gentleman?" He asked looking at Killian, who had disposed of his pirate costume and had dressed in a tunic and trousers he had stolen from a prince in another land.

"No other than Captain Hook, yer majesty!" The pirate exclaimed bowing before the King with a smirk on his face.

"Oh!" Exclaimed the King, surprised to see Princess Emma being escorted by a man known for his love for women and rum, "it is an honor to have you tonight, Captain," Midas greeted smiling, trying not to ruin any possible impression just in case he needed something from the most acclaimed pirate in the land in a near future.

Hook, noticing he had nothing else to do at the presence of the King and finding himself in a rush to sail away with his prize, escorted Emma away walking to the center of the room. When they reached the dancing crowd, he bowed offering his hand to dance with her, at what Emma faked a smile, and put her hand on his.

"So you do know how to dance, Captain," Emma pointed out a little bit too uninterested, but she had to make him believe she wanted to be there.

"You're not the first princess, m'lady. And I like to define myself as a very skilled man," Killian winked at Emma as they were dancing along with the rest of the couples in the ball room.

"Well, I'm impressed," she lied.

"'Nough with the talking, Princess. I agreed to one dance before we left, that was your offer" Hook said with lusty eyes, almost putting his hand on Emma's mouth, but he limited himself to put his hook on his lips signing Emma to silence.

Afraid to say anything else, Emma continued dancing. She did a pirouette and found herself in front of the celebrated groom, Frederick, "Emma! Abigail told me you were not coming, that your father was sick," he said surprised to see Emma in front of him.

"He is recovering. My mother asked me to come to celebrate your engagement," she lied, covering up her real reasons since she didn't want Frederick or Abigail to know who she attended with, or why she was really there, even when Midas already knew.

"Why, thank you! We would have understood if you didn't come," Frederick exclaimed while he was dancing with Emma.

Emma smiled in response. They kept dancing together until another change occurred, and they smiled at each other to keep dancing with the person they now had in front of them. Emma couldn't stop thinking of what she could do to run away, but she knew that if she did it while Hook was close, it would only cause a disturbance and he would notice. Maybe she could have told Frederick, but now it was too late.

Away from the dancing crowd, on the other side of the room there was Regina Mills, bitterly standing alone until Abigail and Frederick stopped dancing to give their friend some company. She did not have much of a choice to attend the engagement ball of Abigail and Frederick, her mother had obliged her to find a suitor to marry since her Kingdome was on the edge of poverty, or she would find someone for her. She had rebelled against her mother before, and she knew it would never work again. She lost the man she love, he was just a stable boy, but she loved him dearly.

Abigail walked towards Regina, knowing that she was not happy to be there and trying to make her feel better by smiling at her, even when she knew Regina is not so easy to soften up, “have you find someone to dance with already?” Abigail asked Regina.

Regina sighed and rolled her eyes naturally, “what do you think?” she asked balancing her weight on her left foot since she was getting tired of standing, but she was being reluctant to even try to talk to someone else.

Knowing what Regina was doing at the ball, aside from celebrating her engagement to Frederick, and willing to help her, she suggested, "why don't you dance with Robert?" She asked Regina, pointing with her eyes at a man standing a few feet away from them. The man was hypnotized by the people dancing in the center of the room, his smile was not so tender, but he was arguably handsome.

"No, he seems pretentious," Regina spat.

"Well, if you keep that attitude they will see you as the pretentious one, Regina," Abigail said almost giving up since she had offered her enough options already.

Regina sighed, annoyed at the comment that Abigail made. She looked at both of her friends hoping they would let it all go, but they didn’t seem to want to let it go that easily. Regina looked back at Robert, who was laughing and talking with the man beside him. He looked better when he laughed than when he put that apathetic smile on his face, but his laugh also made him look even more pretentious to Regina. She bowed before the celebrated couple in front of her to excuse herself, both of them smiled at her proud of persuading Regina into finally asking someone to dance, and Regina walked towards the man. She had not taken a lot of steps away when someone blocked her sight of Robert. Regina stopped and looked at the woman in the red dress, with hair as yellow as gold, and eyes as green as peridots. Regina stared at her for a couple of seconds, the way the woman danced and how the light in the room accentuated the beauty of her face made Regina feel nervous, a kind of nervous she hadn’t feel like in a long time. Suddenly the music she was hearing had a meaning, and all she wanted was to dance with the woman who caught her gaze.

Emma was getting anxious since Hook was already dancing with her again. She was trying to pretend like everything was fine, looking at Hook and faking smiles, and everything was calm until she looked away from Hook for a second, and her gaze caught a beautiful woman walking towards her. Emma couldn’t stop looking at her, wondering who she was and what could she possibly be doing approaching towards her. It was clear for Emma that it was not in a threatening way because she was hiding a smile that made her feel so comfortable that she even started to blush. Hook, aware that Emma was not looking at him anymore, looked in the same direction Emma's eyes were looking. He started to feel insecure, and he suspected that Emma was looking at someone else when he needed her attention directed to him and only him. He finally saw who Emma was looking at, and his thoughts changed: the lady wanted to dance with him.

The woman they were both looking at reached both of them and asked, "can I have a dance?" Regina asked unaware of how she managed to put those words together because of how nervous she suddenly was.

"Why, of course!" The pirate exclaimed thinking the request was directed to him.

"Why, I'm sorry! I was asking her," Regina said smiling at the woman in front of her.

The pirate stepped in the middle of both women, suddenly annoyed by Regina, but Emma rushed to say before anything happened, "yes, I'll dance with you." She didn't want to cause a scene, but she also wanted to dance with her. Hook side-saw her confused and angry so she rushed to explain, "it's just a dance, she's a friend." But she knew she was a complete stranger.

The pirate looked back at Regina, and she smiled nodding her head positively, "just a dance," he said not so convinced and walked away never taking his eyes off of both women.

Emma smiled at the stranger woman in front of her like she had just saved her from the pirate, even though she knew he was still around. Regina smiled back and took Emma's hand to dance with her.

"Why did you accept? Are you trying to run away from that dirty pirate in disguise?" Regina asked innocently only trying to make the woman laugh, but she didn't know she had asked just the right question.

"How did you know?" Emma asked a little bit shocked.

"What? You are?" Regina asked suddenly worried.

"I-I-I am," she thoughtlessly said because somehow she trusted this stranger, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't trouble you with my problems-"

"No-no-no, if you need help, I'm offering it. We can find a way," Regina said slowly pacing her words, and worried about the woman.

Emma floundered for words to express how grateful she was, but she was too overwhelmed to word out anything. She managed to keep her smile on her face, and with teary eyes she looked at Regina and nodded, and they continued dancing while Hook was still watching them completely unaware of what they were plotting. The music was helping them ease at such dramatic situation, and since time is a thief, Regina was already thinking of a way out while they were joining a carol with another couple dancing next to them. They held hands and danced, and everyone in the small circle were smiling at each other. Suddenly, Regina dropped her smile at the thought she just had, but she knew magic was the better way out for the pirate not to notice they were escaping. The chain broke catching Regina unawares, and Emma and Regina were dancing together again.

Regina looked different, and Emma noticed, but she just stared waiting like she was watching a flower bloom. Regina smiled before she said, “I have a plan,” Emma sighed letting go of the weight she was carrying on her back, “I should say that it is a little risky, but if you trust me, I’ll make it work,” Regina promised.

Emma smiled, feeling already overwhelmed, “I’ll take the risk!” Emma exclaimed, ready to take anything thrown her way.

“Do you see that door half closed over there?” Regina whispered signing with her eyes at the gates a little far from them on the back side of the room, “I know they are far, but we just have to dance until we reach them. We will sneak out, and then we will be safe to leave,” Regina explained, “I don’t think that bearded bilge rat will notice so we’ll have enough time,” Regina said causing the lady in front of her to smile, and what a beautiful smile it was.

"All right, the song will end soon, are you ready?" Regina asked Emma.

Emma nodded to let Regina know she was ready, and both danced towards the center of the crowd. Hook had lost sight of them, and he sensed something bad happening, so he walked towards the dancing crowd to look for Emma. Emma and Regina continued dancing across the room until they reached the doors on the back. Once Hook was somewhat trapped in the dancing crowd, they stealthily opened the gates and sneaked out.

"Don't close the door, it'll be unrequited movement, it'll be suspicious," Regina whispered looking at Emma's hand reaching for the door.

Emma moved her hand away and said, "now what?"

"Just take my hand," Regina said offering her hand to Emma.

Once their hands were locked, Regina looked at Emma smiling nervously, and a little scared that Emma would panic when she performs her magic, but Emma trusted her, she saw it in her eyes. Regina moved her hand graciously, and a purple smoke embraced both of them making them disappear into thin air. They appeared where Regina felt the safest in the world, the stables.

"What was that?" Emma asked in shock.

"Magic," Regina answered hurt to see Emma's reaction, but Emma smiled. Regina had read her wrong.

"Thank you-" Emma realized she didn't know the woman's name, "what-" she tried to ask, but the lady interrupted her.

"Regina," she smiled.

"Thank you, Regina," she smiled back, "I'm Emma," she said blushing a little.

"I should thank you too, Emma," Regina exclaimed, to what Emma frowned amusingly, "you saved me from that hideous ball." Both Emma and Regina laughed at Regina’s comment.

"It was not that bad," Emma said.

"Oh, you have no idea," Regina sighed rolling her eyes, and Emma laughed even more.

"So the stables... Are those yours?" Emma asked looking at the horses in front of them.

"Why, yes! I love riding. I haven't done it in a long time, but I do enjoy it." Regina answered.

"I don't know much about riding horses, but I do love horses," Emma really didn't know what to say or do, but she felt safe now, and being around Regina gave her another kind of feeling that made her feel nervous.

"Do you want to meet my horse?" Regina asked, at what Emma nodded smiling nervously. Regina led Emma towards a magnificent brown horse, "this is Rocinante," Regina said petting the head of the horse, and Emma approached and looked at the beautiful stallion.

"It seems like a great companion, and loyal," Emma said.

Silence ruled for a while, both women were just standing in front of the horse, petting it.

"What are you going to do now that you're free?" Regina asked breaking the silence.

"I don't think I am exactly free. I'm afraid he will find a way to get to me," Emma said afraid of her own reasoning.

"Well I can help you," Regina rushed to say.

"With magic?" Emma said smiling.

"Perhaps, but I'm not really that good at it. I think it was a miracle that it worked perfectly to get us here."

When Regina stopped talking, they heard footsteps behind them. Emma and Regina turned around, and in front of them there was a little man with a scaly-looking golden skin. He was Rumplestiltskin, but it wasn't time for Regina's magic tutoring.

"Oh my, am I interrupting something?" Rumplestiltskin asked with his high pitched voice, and giggling softly.

"What are you doing here?" Regina asked and then looked at Emma, who was shocked and a little nervous or scared, maybe, to see that little imp.

"Well, you know me... Running around making deals, getting things I need from interesting people... I heard you performed magic quite perfectly, or I saw it. I don't know I might have been following you around!" He said.

"Who is he?" Emma asked Regina, with a frown on her face.

"An unrequited guest, I may guess. But don't you worry, he was just leaving, wasn't he?" Regina asked looking at Rumplestiltskin.

"Oh, on the contrary dearie. I'm here to collect something."

"Well, what could possibly be it? I owe you nothing."

"Oh, so self-centered, Regina. It's not just you I need something from," he said and looked at Emma, "missy, what is your name?"

Emma was going to talk, but Regina stopped her saying, "don't! This beast is trouble."

"Love the nickname, but I know you need something, lady," he looked at Emma, "and I need something too. Perhaps I can help you get away from that pirate, he and I need to fix something, and if you help me get rid of him, consequently you will get rid of him too, and you will be finally free so you can return to your lovely family."

"Can you really help me?" Emma asked desperately.

"Emma, if you take this man's so called help, it will only get complicated. I know his ways, and if you deal with him, you'll have to pay the price." Regina said worried about Emma being so naive.

"Well, but isn't that the point of a deal?" Emma asked innocently.

"Oh, I really like her, Regina," Rumplestiltskin said.

"I'm warning you, Emma, but if you are willing to take such risk."

"I could be interested, but I will need to hear everything you need me to do for you, then I'll decide," Emma said looking at Rumplestiltskin.

"Why, it is so simple. All I need from you ladies is a lock of your hair, and I need you to tell me the pirate's ship location. How does that sound?"

"How are you saving me from Hook?" Emma asked.

"You don't have to know much, just that he will be gone for a very, very long time."

"I'm not agreeing to this until I know everything!" Emma insisted.

"Oh, help me out here, lady! What's the surprise if you keep asking?" He asked amusingly, but Emma wasn't agreeing, and Regina was worried Emma was even considering it. Regina stared at Rumplestiltskin wondering why he would need their hair and for what kind of evil; all his act was so weird for her. "I'm sending him to a place he cannot get away from," Rumplestiltskin said giving up, but not much.

"Where, Wonderland?" Regina sarcastically asked.

"Worse, Neverland."

"Excuse me mister, but Hook got away from that place. He brought us Dreamshade. That's why I made a deal with him, in exchange for the poison to create an antidote to save my father." Emma said not so impressed.

"Then you clearly know nothing about how Neverland works, dearie... Who runs that awful island can let whoever he wants leave for the reasons he wants, but if you come back... You might find it harder."

"So you are telling me you know this person... Why do you think he would not let Hook leave again?" Emma asked curiously.

"Because you were what that little devil was asking for. Hook takes you to him, and the pirate gets to me… Oh but you got away and found me, and now I am getting to him. That's the game, dearie."

Emma understood what the man was saying, it couldn't be clearer. If Hook was only taking her to Neverland to let her captive there, she had to make a deal, she had to take it. Regina herself said that it was complicated to deal with the man, but she was still wondering if what he was implying meant that he can make it work even though, "are your ways reliable?" Emma asked.

"As reliable as the sun rising in the east!" He said smirking.

"Deal!" Emma said lowering her tone of voice, sealing one more deal.

Rumplestiltskin smiled and took a little bottle with a vase-like form. "Your hair, ladies," he said opening the bottle.

Regina looked at Emma and asked, "are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I am sure!" Emma said trying to reassure Regina, to let her know she was willing to do what the man was asking from her, and that she could trust her. If anything happened, Emma was willing to pay the price herself. Both of them took a lock of hair from their heads and put it inside the bottle, and Emma said, "Captain Hook told me that his ship was near Midas's castle, near the shore in the north. His crew took it there."

"Well, that's not really helpful, but you're lucky I know just the place where they could leave that hideous ship. Alrighty," he said and moved to leave, but Emma stopped him.

"Wait! How will I know you have done your part of the deal?" Emma asked.

"I'll send the message with Regina, I feel you two will see each other more often." Emma and Regina looked at each other, both blushed, and when they looked back where Rumplestiltskin was, he had already left.

"Thank you," Emma said, "you really didn't have to do anything you have done for me."

"Don't worry, I'm glad I did," Regina said smiling, "do you want to come in? Maybe for some apple metheglin, I do make a delicious one."

"I'll be glad to."


End file.
